Summary
Much to the displeasure of Europe' smaller countries, trilateral meetings of the European Union's Big Three--Britain, France, and Germany--occur with increasing frequency. Larres examines the informal triple leadership that has emerged in Europe and its capability to dominate European countries.
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Extract
Time for a Threesome
The NEW CLOSENESS GOES BACK TO OCTOBER 2001 when the three leaders attempted to coordinate their response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Most other European Union (EU) member states were not amused. They gatecrashed a Downing Street dinner the following month which British Prime Minister Tony Blair intended for his two leadership partners. Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands angrily insisted on being invited.
The emergence of a genuine menage a trois was delayed by both the strong hostility of medium-sized and small EU countries and bitter European divisions over the Iraq war. The personal antipathy between French President Jacques Chirac and Blair also played a role, as did Chirac's quite ...See the full content of this document
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